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Ashley Frazer-Abel, Ph.D., joined the Advanced Diagnostic Laboratories at National Jewish Health in 2008 as assistant director of the Complement Laboratory. She earned her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and completed post-doctoral work at University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center and at Denver’s AMC Cancer Research Center.

Dr. Frazer-Abel was formerly technical director of ClinImmune Labs at the University of Colorado Medical School, where she studied the effects of cigarette smoke on the cells of the adaptive immune system. As her research progressed, it became clear that her questions required a new focus on the proteins of the complement system – and she reached out to Dr. Patsy Giclas, a world-renowned expert in complement biochemistry at National Jewish Health. Dr. Frazer-Abel became extremely interested in the complement system and, after attending an International Complement Society conference in Whales in 2007, she knew this was an area of science where she could have a positive impact on people’s lives.

Helping patients with rare disorders is just one way that Dr. Frazer-Abel is making a difference. One particular area of interest is hereditary angioedema (HAE), a condition that causes painful, unpredictable attacks of swelling. Complement deficiencies are responsible for 20 percent of all HAE cases, and these conditions often go undiagnosed for years. In April 2012, Dr. Frazer-Abel was the only laboratorian invited to a conference with leading experts on HAE. Side-by-side with physicians and physician/scientists, the group shared information and collectively defined a new type of HAE - Type 3. At the conference, Dr. Frazer-Abel provided expert input into how HAE research can best be translated into practical diagnostic tests.